THE WAIYAU.
THEIR CURIOSITY — APPEARANCE OF THE WOMEN — MATAKA’S RECEPTION OF LIVINGSTONE — REMARKABLE DECISION OF THIS CHIEF — HIS VIEWS OF SLAVE TRADE — THE WAIYAU WILLING AGENTS OF THE ARAB SLAVE DEALERS — INCIDENT SHOWING THE DREADFUL WRONG OF THIS BUSINESS — LIVINGSTONE’S RESCUE OF AKOSAKONÉ — IRON-SMELTING POPULATION — AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF THE COUNTRY — WORK HONORABLE AMONG THE WAIYAU — THEIR PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
The country occupied by this tribe is somewhat mountainous, and the land, sloping for a mile down to the south bank of the Rovuma, teems with an immense population. When Livingstone passed through this district (July 1, 1866) some were cutting down trees and burning them in order to make gardens; others were moving their grain, of which they had stored large quantities, to new places.
The Waiyau, as a tribe, have a great deal of curiosity, staring at strangers, and sometimes showing great rudeness. Large crowds of people came to gaze upon Livingstone and his party, bursting into laughter at the remarks which were made in regard to the appearance and conduct of their visitors. They would gather round his tent to peer into it. This rude curiosity was very annoying and could be abated by only one method: sudden rising to the feet would produce a stampede of the women and children.
In person, the women are strong and well-built, having large limbs. The fashion in ornament is blue and black beads, with arm-coils of brass wire. These people strive to copy the Arabs as nearly as possible in dress and chewing tobacco with “nora” lime instead of betel-nuts. The gaudy prints were, however, sought by some, though the tribes in the interior are desirous of strength rather than show in the fabrics they buy.
The town of Mataka, one of the petty Waiyau chiefs, is situated in an elevated valley about twenty-seven hundred feet above the sea, and is surrounded with mountains. It consisted of about a thousand houses when Livingstone was there. There were many other villages near.
Mataka kept Livingstone waiting in the veranda of his house, and at length made his appearance, smiling good-naturedly. About sixty years of age, he was dressed as an Arab. He seemed to possess considerable humor, for his people would often greet his remarks with laughter. His courtesy was shown by giving Livingstone a large square house to live in and sending him generous donations of food, as porridge, meat, and milk.
A number of his men had gone without his knowledge to Nyassa, and in a foray stolen both cattle and people; but when they returned with their spoil, Mataka peremptorily ordered all to be sent back. When he went up to see Livingstone soon after, he told of what he had done. Livingstone replied that it was “the best piece of news he had heard in the country.” Delighted with this testimony, he turned to his people, and asked if they heard what was said by the white stranger among them. He then repeated Livingstone’s remark, and added, “You silly fellows think me wrong to restore the captives, but all wise men approve of it.” He then reproached them most severely for their disgraceful conduct. Livingstone gave Mataka a trinket as a remembrancer of his honorable conduct toward the Nyassa. He replied that he would always act in a similar manner. His conduct is surely deserving the highest commendation because it was spontaneous and contrary to the custom of other chiefs and the prevailing spirit of the people. One day he asked Livingstone what he ought to take to secure some gold if he should go to Bombay. The reply was, “Ivory.” He rejoined, “Would not slaves be a good speculation?” The answer was, “If you take slaves there for sale, they will put you in prison.” The idea of his being “in durance vile” was not quite compatible with his consciousness of personal dignity and superiority; and as his countenance fell, the laugh of his people, who heard what was said, was turned against him. It was a new thing for these almost defenceless people, familiar, as they were, with the scenes of pillage and barbarity, to hear these protests against stealing and selling others into slavery. Ready as they were to regard Mataka’s sayings as witty and to reward them with their approval, it was no small satisfaction to them to have him impaled on Livingstone’s sharp rejoinder. They probably had but a vague idea of the guilt of the traffic, but the suffering and loss of life they had witnessed, and all of which might perhaps become their own bitter experience any day, made the matter one of personal safety, and this was an idea they could fully comprehend.
Mataka, though now in his later years desiring quiet, had been actively engaged in slave wars. The Waiyau generally are the most ready coadjutors of the slave traders in their nefarious business. The Arab merchants arriving at a Waiyau village show the goods they have brought to the elders, who tell them to tarry there and enjoy themselves.
This means that slaves enough will soon be procured to pay for the merchandise. A raid against the Manganja, a peaceable, unwarlike tribe, who have few guns, is undertaken. The Waiyau, being provided with guns by the Arabs, easily accomplish their purpose, and the caravan is re-enforced with captive men and women for the slave market.
Nor are Mataka’s people always the assailants. Makanjela, another Waiyau chief, about a third of the way from Mtendé’s to Mataka, unable to reach the Manganja, will kidnap from Mataka if any of his tribe are found outside of their own district. He has forfeited the friendship of all his neighbors by his plundering from them and selling their people. All who for any reason cross their borders are seized and sold, and so bitter feuds are engendered and perpetuated by frequent forays.
The following incident gives a glimpse of the wide-spread and dreadful curse of the African tribes, viz., the slave trade; it also illustrates the conduct of Livingstone and his uniform protest against the traffic wherever he went. Though we shall treat this subject more fully in another chapter, yet the circumstance referred to may properly find a place here.
One morning, as Livingstone relates the story, when he and his party were proceeding on their way, they were loudly accosted by a well-dressed woman, upon whose neck a heavy, slave-taming stick had just been fastened. Her manner was so dignified and earnest in telling of the cruel wrong inflicted upon her that all stopped to listen to her case. She was a near relative of Chirikaloma, and was on her way up the river to meet her husband, when the old man, in whose house she was a prisoner, had seized her, taken her servant away, and reduced her to the helpless and degraded condition in which she was first seen by Livingstone. Her captor said in defence of his conduct that she was running away from Chirikaloma, and he would be displeased if she was not secured for him.
The presence of several slave-traders near by led Livingstone to the conviction that she was seized that she might be sold to them. He accordingly gave the old man a piece of cloth, to propitiate Chirikaloma if he should be offended, and told him to say that Livingstone was ashamed to see one of his relatives in a slave-stick, and would take her to her husband. He also explained to the head men in the village what he had done and sent messengers to Chirikaloma so that he might not misunderstand the proceeding.
The appearance of the woman and her numerous beads gave evidence of her being a lady among her tribe. Her high spirit was also seen when, after she was liberated, she went into the house of her captor to get her basket and calabash, in spite of the resistance of the virago wife of the old man. But the sympathy of all was with her, and she came off victorious. During the whole journey Akosakoné (this was her name) acted like a lady, being modest in all her conduct, and sleeping at a fire apart from the men. In every village she enlisted the sympathy of the people by relating the gross insult that had been put upon her. She was also of great service to Livingstone, and abundantly repaid him for the interposition in her behalf. Being of fine address, she could buy twice as much food as any of the men with the same quantity of cloth. If any injustice was attempted against Livingstone or his men, she would plead in their behalf, and when carriers were needed she volunteered to carry a bag of beads on her head. Her husband was brother of Chimseia, a chief to whom she introduced Livingstone, and induced him to be generous toward the travellers on account of the great service rendered to her. When she and Livingstone parted, her expressions of gratitude were profuse, and it was evident that the kindness done in rescuing her from the doom of slavery was neither undervalued nor undeserved.
To the northeast of Moembe, Livingstone found an extensive tract of valuable land, which retained numerous evidences of having once supported a very large iron-smelting and agricultural population. The clay pipes that are put in the nozzles of their bellows are found everywhere. So, too, the ridges on which were planted beans, cassava, maize, and sorghum are visible still, and evince the industrious habits of the people. Pieces of broken pottery, with their rims embellished by rude designs in imitation of basket-work, show the handiwork of the women.
The cattle of this region are a small breed, with various colors, and their milk is greatly valued by the Waiyau. The sheep are generally black in color but large in size. This tribe have no other useful domestic animals, except fowls and pigeons, unless the miserable village curs to be found everywhere be included in this category. The fertility of the soil is manifested by the great size of its products. The sweet potatoes become very large, and so abundant were they that Livingstone bought two loads of them for three cubits and two needles. The maize grows to a remarkable size, one cob bearing sixteen hundred seeds. The character of the soil, the coolness of the climate, the abundance of water, and the means of building square houses, combine to render this region one of the most delightful for residence. It is an elevated and attractive country, about thirty-four hundred feet above the level of the sea.
South of Lake Nyassa Livingstone visited another chief, Mukaté. He and Mponda and Kabinga were the only chiefs of the Waiyau then engaged in the slave trade, making periodical raids upon the Manganja and the Maravi. Mukaté’s village is about eight hundred feet above the lake. The heights, so far as the eye could see, were covered with villages, and the population, though very large, seemed to revel in plenty. Mukaté’s house and those of the other Waiyau chiefs were square buildings, both substantial and convenient. He and all his people wear the beard trained upon the chin, after the Arab style.
Livingstone had long discussions with this chief about the slave trade. The barbarities and horrors of the business, so visible to all in the skulls scattered along the way, the desolate villages, the sufferings of those who perish in the journey to the coast, the murders committed,—all these frightful evils Mukaté tried to dismiss with a laugh, as if they were of little consequence; but his conscience was not altogether dead, and his people, many of them, were anxious that he should abandon his raids in the interest of the Kilwa slave dealers.
The religious notions of this people are very crude. The traditions they have are that they came from the west originally, and that their forefathers taught them to make nets and kill fish. No moral instruction seems to have been transmitted, and they have no idea of a teacher above them. With no book, and never having heard of such a thing till Livingstone’s visit, with no carvings or writing on the rocks, they are sunk in mental darkness, though surrounded by such abundance of the earth’s riches. Their ancestors had never taught them anything of their condition after death, though they had heard it said of those who died that “God took them.”
The differences between the Waiyau and the Manganja, of whom there is an account in a preceding part of this work, are very marked. The exactions and superciliousness of the Waiyau indicate that they regard themselves the dominant race. Though they are continually making raids upon their neighbors, for the sake of the slave trade, yet they are inferior to them in many respects.
The Waiyau have round, apple-shaped heads, understand the use of fire-arms, and with dash and courage easily overpower the Manganja, who use only bows and arrows, and are a more peaceable, as they are a more intelligent and ingenious race. Fond of roving, scattered and broken by their slave wars and internal feuds, they make little if any progress in the matters of husbandry, but by their greater bravery and restless spirit, they are successful in their plundering forays among their neighbors, who are made tributary to their selfish schemes in stocking the slave markets on the coast.
Among the tribes of the Waiyau, especially Mpondas and Kabingas, agricultural labor is esteemed; all cultivate the ground, from the chief down. Mponda was in his garden at work when Livingstone reached his village. With this example before the people there is no disgrace attached to such work. Vast stores of grain are raised by these tribes, though they are given to roving and marauding. Notwithstanding they plundered the Manganja of their large breed of humped cattle, yet they do not milk them, and accordingly the number dwindled from the thousands of former times to a few hundreds. The idea of drinking milk, with these tribes, is one to excite disgust. A boy will undergo chastisement rather than milk a goat.
Their method of making salt is to lixiviate the soil that is impregnated with it and boil the water that filters through a tuft of grass placed in a hole in the bottom of a pot till all is evaporated. A residuum of salt is left. Hundreds of people may be seen at times engaged in the manufacture of this needful article.
The Waiyau, though not a handsome race, have not the prognathous appearance of those on the West Coast. Their foreheads are compact, but not receding; their lips are full, and with the women an additional thickness is given by a small lip-ring. This would not alone so much disfigure their faces, but they file their teeth to points, which gives a hideous look. They are strong and equal to the work which belongs to them. The men are large, sturdy fellows, capable of great endurance. A rite obtains among them similar to that which distinguished the Jews. This is performed at the age of puberty, and the young man then takes a new name. This custom dates back to a period previous to the coming of the Arabs, and its origin is accordingly unknown.